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Hawaiian Name Finder

Jacob · English boy’s name

Jacob in Hawaiian is ʻIakopa

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when B became P, C became K, J became I, and a vowel was added at the end.

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ee·ah·KOH·pah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Jacob in Hawaiian?

Jacob is ʻIakopa in Hawaiian, said ee-ah-KOH-pah.

How Jacob became ʻIakopa

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Jacob B became P, C became K, J became I, and a vowel was added at the end. A Hawaiian word cannot finish on a consonant, which is where the last vowel comes from. The ʻokina at the front is a consonant in Hawaiian, the catch in the voice before the first vowel.

Other recorded spellings of Jacob

Hawaiian records do not settle on one spelling for every borrowed name. Alongside ʻIakopa, Jacob was also written Iakopo. Each is a real Hawaiian writing of the name rather than a variant anyone invented; which one a family used came down to who was doing the writing, and when.

How to say ʻIakopa

Say it ee-ah-KOH-pah, leaning on KOH, sounding every vowel: i as “ee”, a as in “father”, o as in “go”. The ʻokina (ʻ) is a catch in the voice, the break in the middle of “uh-oh”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.

Sources the Pukui and Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary, Place Names of Hawaii, Nānā i ke Kumu, wehewehe.org, Wiktionary's Hawaiian given names and U.S. Social Security baby-name records. How this site is compiled · Send a correction

Questions people ask

What is Jacob in Hawaiian?

Jacob is ʻIakopa in Hawaiian, pronounced ee-ah-KOH-pah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce ʻIakopa?

ee-ah-KOH-pah, with the stress on KOH.

Why does ʻIakopa look so different from Jacob?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Jacob, B became P, C became K, J became I, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is ʻIakopa a real Hawaiian name?

Yes, as a borrowed name. Hawaiian families have used ʻIakopa since the 1800s, but it is Jacob respelled, not a name built from Hawaiian words.

All 164 English names in Hawaiian · Hawaiian boy's names